News

07December2018

£24million manufacturing research centre backed by D2N2 opens

A flagship, £24million University of Nottingham research facility – co-funded by the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership – has officially opened.

The Advanced Manufacturing Building – home to the University’s Institute for Advanced Manufacturing (IfAM) and located at the entrance to the University's Jubilee Campus in Nottingham – is a 96,000 square foot centre for world-class research; particularly for the aerospace, automotive, food, biomedical, energy generation, chemical products and digital manufacturing sectors.

It was officially opened today (Friday December 7) by Juergen Maier, Chief Executive of Siemens UK.

The Building’s costs were met by £18.1m from the University of Nottingham, £5m from the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership’s Local Growth Fund allocation and £1m from educational charity The Wolfson Foundation.

D2N2 is the private sector-led Partnership of business, local authorities, skills and training providers, and community and voluntary organisations which promotes economic and jobs growth across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. Its funding resources includes an allocation of more than £250m from the Government’s Local Growth Fund, used to part-fund infrastructure projects in its area which directly help grow the economy.

Professor Svetan Ratchev, Director of IfAM, said the Advanced Manufacturing Building was one of the largest manufacturing, engineering, teaching and research facilities in the UK; housing around 400 staff, students and researchers.

He added: “Skills challenges remain a key issue for many manufacturing businesses in the UK; due to factors such as the fast pace of technology development, an ageing workforce and a shortage of graduates with relevant multi-disciplinary skills and experience.

“The Institute is helping to shape the manufacturing research agenda nationally and internationally, and is supplying the technology and specialist skills to suport key industrial sectors and encourage the growth of emerging industries.”

IfAM brings together the research activities of the Advanced Manufacturing, 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing and Polymer Composites Research Groups under one roof.

The Institute also comprises the Centre for Additive Manufacturing (CfAM), the Centre for Aerospace Manufacturing and the Precision Manufacturing Centre; delivering a range of collaborative projects funded by UK Research Councils, European Framework programmes and industrial partners.

Elizabeth Fagan, Chair of the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “The Advanced Manufacturing Building is exactly the kind of innovation-led facility needed to take forward the ambition laid out in our Strategic Economic Plan and aid new, hi-tech growth sectors, and research and development. That is why the D2N2 LEP is proud to invest heavily in a flagship project, using its Local Growth Fund allocation from Government.”

Minister for Local Growth, Jake Berry MP, added: “We are committed to boosting economic growth across the whole of the Midlands Engine and building a country that works for everyone.

“Our £5million investment in the University of Nottingham’s new Advanced Manufacturing Building through the Local Growth Fund shows our modern Industrial Strategy in action. This state-of-the-art facility will benefit Nottingham, the Midlands and the whole UK economy by driving innovation, equipping people to secure highly skilled jobs and supporting manufacturing businesses of all sizes to thrive.”